Riley

Riley took a little trip to the groomer the other day...

BEFORE:

This is what a typical Miniature Australian Shepherd looks like (well, he's a little shaggy here, but you get the idea)...

AFTER:

And this is what a shaved Miniature Australian Shepherd looks like. There was a little miscommunication about how much hair was supposed to be trimmed. At least he'll be cooler in the 100 degree weather. And we thought he was fat, when in fact he's not! He was very distressed at first - he cried all the way home. But we all made a big deal over him and now he's working it.

But I still think he looks like a waif. :-)

Where's Patrick?

Silly kitty. Just so you understand exactly how silly he is...

He's sleeping in Lulu's dresser. It's about 4.5 feet tall. He's in the second drawer from the top, which is about 3.5 feet off the ground - with no other furniture nearby. It's one of his hidey-holes. I think he's hiding from Xander (AKA Grumpyass). See how he's laying on the pink underwear? Patrick loves all things pink.

What I did over the weekend...

Gus & I took Riley to our local arboretum last weekend. They have great paved (and unpaved) trails for walking & biking - and pets are welcome! It's really pretty, too. They also have several ball fields, tennis courts, a huge playground, & some picnic shelters. But we just go there to walk.  :-)

Xander...

It's 100 degrees outside, but Xander is either laying in the sun or snuggled up in a big, warm afghan. Silly kitty...

Happy Birthday, Gracie!

When Buddy & Lulu were little, we had kitties as pets. Of course, like all kids, they wanted a puppy. But like all parents, Gus & I knew that no matter how many times they insisted that they would take care of the puppy, we would be the ones doing most of the work.

Then in 1999, one of our cats died. The kids were devastated. Buddy was 9 and Lulu was 8 - so we decided it was time to get a puppy. The very next day we fell in love with Gracie, a 3-week-old St. Bernard. It was really hard to wait 3 more weeks to bring her home, but somehow we managed, and she came to live with us just before Christmas. A 6-week-old 15 lb. ball of fluff.

Gracie was the best dog ever. Once she was out of the puppy stage, she never chewed on anything or raided the garbage. We did crate-train her, but once she was about 6 months old, we never had to crate her while we were gone - she would just sleep on the couch. However, she did think that any food at head level was obviously hers. (I call that "The Case of the Missing Grilled Cheese Sandwich".)

Even though she weighed 150 lbs., she had no concept of her size. She would try to sit in our laps and then look befuddled as to why it didn't work. When there was a thunderstorm, she would try to wedge herself under my desk or behind the couch. Sometimes, she would just get in the bathtub.

She really hated to have her ears cleaned. She would run through the house trying to escape when she would hear us get the stuff ready. Then she'd come when I'd call her - but she did it very reluctantly, LOL. Gus would have to lay on top of her to hold her down. One time, she was determined to get away, and she dragged Gus through the house - while he was laying on top of her! LOL!

Just before Gracie's 7th birthday, Lulu noticed that Gracie was limping. We took her to the vet, and he put her on medication, hoping that it was either a sprain or arthritis. After a couple of weeks, it was obvious she wasn't getting any better. We took her to an orthopedic surgeon, and the x-rays confirmed that she had bone cancer. After reviewing the options, we made the almost-impossible decision to have her euthanized. I honestly think that it was the hardest thing I've ever done. But we loved her and didn't want her to suffer any longer. We all went to the vet with her, and I stayed with her until it was over.

She's been gone for 4 years now - and today would have been her 11th birthday.

Happy Birthday, Graciebelle - we love you!!

Sleepy kitty...

Awww...isn't he cute? For those of you who don't remember from my previous posts, this is Angus - but we call him Goosey. He's a funny cat. He doesn't like to be held - but when he wants to be petted, he will rub all over you and pester you until you pet him. If you don't pet him or if you stop petting him before he's ready for you to stop, he'll nip you with his teeth. He's the alpha cat of the house. He has mastered the aloof look that says "you are a lowly human and I only tolerate you because you control the food". He thinks that he is a tiger - a big tough jungle cat.

Well..let's see the rest of the picture...

Yes, that's right - this tough jungle cat likes to sleep in his mommy's chair - on a pillow & pink Snuggie. He loves my pink Snuggie. When he saw me get it out the other day, he jumped up in my chair to lay on it. If I leave the room, when I come back, he'll be laying in the chair on the pink snuggie.

I'm sure he has some other "excuse" - like he's keeping my chair warm - but trust me, it's all about the pink Snuggie.

I think I'm going to buy him a leopard-print Snuggie for Christmas.  :-)

Baby ducks

Remember the baby ducks that I blogged about a few months ago? We would see them with their mama, waddling through the yard, going from pond to pond. So cute!

These four seem to have made our street their "home". They make their rounds to all of the houses, but I think we're the ones who feed them the most. When they see one of us, they will waddle as fast as they can to our yard.

We started out by feeding them in the yard. Then we moved to the sidewalk, and then the porch. At first, they were pretty timid and wouldn't get too close. Now they will walk right up to us and even eat from our hands. I'm pretty sure they even recognize my voice since I talk to them while I feed them.

I'm pretty sure that these ducks are the babies of the female black duck & male mallard that we've seen together every year since we moved here. Female black ducks are very similar to female mallards, except that black ducks have a blue spot on their wings and a greenish bill, while female mallards lack the blue and have an orange & brown bill.

From the looks of these "babies", there are three females and one male. And that's probably more than you ever wanted to know about ducks, LOL!

Here's a video of me talking to them on the porch:

My own little LOLCat...

Thursday's Blog

Everyone needs a reason to smile - and this Thursday's blog is so very smile-worthy! I love animals - and I frequently assign human emotions & speech to my pets, LOL. So it stands to reason that I would be vastly amused by a blog that belongs to a sassy pug princess.

(photo courtesy of www.wilmathepug.blogspot.com)

Wilma the Pug - the musings, antics, and general escapades of a royal pug and her minions...

The pictures range from adorable to hilarious - and the captions always make me laugh. As an animal lover and a pet owner, I can relate to it all, LOL! Be sure to read Wilma's birthday post; and the post about Sluggo's Lil Buddy is pretty funny, too. This blog is proof that a picture is worth a thousand words.

If you love animals and think pugs are so ugly they're cute, you should definitely check out Wilma's blog. It's guaranteed to bring a smile to your face!

not Thursday's Blog...

Instead of talking about a blog today, I'm going to talk about Stamps to the Rescue.

If you haven't heard about this yet, on March 17, the United States Postal Service announced the 2010 Animal Rescue: Adopt A Shelter Pet commemorative postage stamps. The USPS, Ellen Degeneres, and Halo, Purely for Pets are working together to promote awareness of the cause.

Here's the deal - you buy the special pet stamps (and we all buy stamps anyway, right?) and Halo donates food to animal shelters. You use the stamps and that helps promote awareness. You can preorder the stamps now - and they will be available starting April 30.

 

 Stamps

The stamps feature photos of 10 shelter animals - and at the time they were photographed, all but one had been successfully adopted. They are adorable! If you go to the Stamps to the Rescue website, you can see the pictures/stamps - and if you hover over each pictures, you can read their individual stories.

Notecards

You can also read about the basics of adopting a pet. And you can buy additional Stamps to the Rescue merchandise from the USPS.

Other supporters include petfinder.com, adoptapetgifts.com, American Humane, and The Humane Society.

According to the Humane Society, between six and eight million cats and dogs end up in shelters each year. Four million of those are euthanized. Please spay and neuter your pets - and if you're planning to get a pet, please consider adopting from a shelter. If you can't adopt, then please consider donating money, supplies, or your time to a local shelter. Most are run by volunteers and can only continue to save animals with your help.